Lawyer: Free speech applies to T-shirts, too

May 24, 2010|By Dan Hinkel, Tribune reporter

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote in 1929 that the First Amendment should protect "freedom for the thought that we hate."

Holmes almost certainly didn't have randy T-shirt slogans in mind. But a lawyer for a 20-year-old Round Lake Park woman argues that protection should be afforded his client, who offended a Lake County judge by walking into court in a shirt that read: "I have the (slang for female body part) so I make the rules."

Lake County Associate Judge Helen Rozenberg declined on Monday to vacate her contempt of court order against Jennifer LaPenta.

Peter Kalagis, LaPenta's lawyer, said his client wanted her record cleared of the citation, which came with a 48-hour jail sentence.

Kalagis plans to appeal the contempt order. He said the shirt constitutes speech protected under the First Amendment. LaPenta donned the shirt for a trip to the gym earlier this month, then wore it to her friend's hearing.

Rozenberg could not be reached for comment.

LaPenta wasn't wearing the shirt when she appeared Monday before the judge in Lake County Circuit Court in Waukegan, but she still owns it, her lawyer said.

Kalagis said he doesn't think the shirt would strike most people as especially offensive.